As the face of MSNBCs "Morning Joe," former Florida Congressman Joe Scarborough ignites early morning audiences with his no-holds barred political commentary. Pulling from his experience as an influential player in Republican politics, Scarborough leads candid discussions about the important issues facing America each day.
As popular on stage as he is on TV, he brings the same energy to his speeches. With his signature off-the-cuff commentary, he offers a dynamic and fast-paced perspective on the current political and media landscape and the headlines of the day.
Accolades for "Morning Joe." Balanced by his Democratic co-host Mika Brzezinski and flanked by diverse guests, Scarborough navigates the political environment with an insider's perspective and a no-nonsense attitude. In 2011, he was named to the prestigious "TIME 100" list of the world's most influential people. In describing his selection, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, "Joe speaks without fear…he puts his country before his Party…That independence makes him a valuable voice in American politics, and it's what makes "Morning Joe" such a successful show."
Scarborough and Brzezinski have been widely applauded for bringing something new and different to morning television. MSNBC said "Morning Joe" does particularly well among Washington's power players. GOP consultant Mark McKinnon said, "Morning Joe has become the most influential show in politics. Anyone who is anyone in politics, or cares about politics these days, is plugged into the program. They created a format that is substantive, informative, and entertaining." Newsweek notes, "One reason for the success of Morning Joe is that Scarborough and his team generate an ideologically unpredictable vibe."
TIME calls "Morning Joe" "revolutionary," and the New York Times ranked it as the top news show of 2008. In 2010, the paper praised Brzezinski and Scarborough's natural repartee and off-the-cuff commentary. The New Yorker described "Morning Joe" as "appallingly entertaining." "Morning Joe" has also consistently beaten CNN and Headline News in the ratings since 2011.
Congressman Turned Pundit. Scarborough made a name for himself in politics long before he became a nationally-recognizable media force. He was elected to Congress in 1994, the first Republican to represent his district since 1872, and he was a part of a small group of Republican congressmen that National Journal said possessed a surprising amount of power. Scarborough served on numerous committees, including the Judiciary; Armed Services; Government Reform and Oversight; Education and the Workforce; and National Security. In 1998, he was named chairman of the Civil Service Committee and drafted a bill on long-term care, which President Clinton called "landmark legislation." Scarborough retired from Congress in 2001. In 2003, he joined MSNBC as the host of Scarborough Country, a primetime show the San Francisco Chronicle called "must-see TV."
Best-Selling Author. Scarborough is the two-time New York Times best-selling author of The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics—And Can Again, Rome Wasn't Burnt in a Day, and The Last Best Hope: Restoring Conservatism and America's Promise. He also founded the Florida Sun, an award-winning weekly newspaper for which he served as editor and publisher.
Jay Baer is a renowned business strategist, keynote speaker and New York Times best-selling author of four books who travels the world helping businesspeople get and keep more customers.
Baer has advised more than 700 companies since 1994, including Caterpillar, Nike, Allstate and 31 of the FORTUNE 500. He is the founder of Convince & Convert, a strategy consulting firm that helps prominent companies gain and keep more customers through the smart intersection of technology, social media and customer service.
His Convince & Convert Media division owns the world's No. 1 content marketing blog, multiple podcasts and many other education resources for business owners and executives. The creator of five multi-million dollar companies, Baer is also an active venture capitalist and technology advisor, as well as an avid tequila collector.
Jeff DeGraff's life reads like an innovation playbook. The pages are speckled with failures followed by great successes all because of the mantra adopted at an early age from icon Walt Disney: “Keep moving forward.”
DeGraff knows how to innovate because he has been through the wringer and rolled with the punches, each time adding a new, better, and cleverer play than the last to his dossier. DeGraff's creative and direct take on making innovation really happen have made him a world renowned thought leader and have prompted his clients and colleagues to dub him as The Dean of Innovation.
DeGraff has advised many of the world's leading corporations, using the Competing Values Framework that he co- created, on how to grow, change and ultimately move forward to see positive results. DeGraff's clientele list reads as a 'who's who' of the business world, boasting Eaton, American Airlines, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, General Electric, Prudential and Pfizer, all as happy customers.
Clients call DeGraff when they want to achieve a cultural change that leads to sustainable innovation and growth. Time and time again, clients have been enthralled and inspired by DeGraff's speaking abilities and unorthodox view of innovation.
He commands the room as he combines theory and practice to instill the mindset needed to make innovation truly happen. DeGraff's ideas have gained such a following that he created the Innovatrium, an innovation institute in the heart of the University of Michigan's campus.
The Innovatrium is what every great innovator in the past has had: a laboratory for experimenting with new ideas and creating tangible prototypes to prove the concepts. Throw in the fact that you can write or draw on every surface while looking out the large bay windows at one of the most prestigious schools in the world and the inspiration simply becomes organic.
Not to be pigeon-holed; DeGraff is also well known as an author whose witty and insightful prose have landed him regular columns with The Huffington Post, Psychology Today and Management Innovation Exchange.
His talent for breaking down the steps needed to innovate effectively also prompted him to write a slew of successful books on innovation including Creativity at Work, Leading Innovation, Innovation You: Four Steps to Becoming New and Improved, and The Enlivened Self: The Art of Growing. Other publications that showcase DeGraff's innovation principles are Business Week, Fortune, USA Today, Training+Development and the Wall Street Journal. He also has video learning modules with Big Think.
For the past 25 years DeGraff has also spent his time as a Clinical Professor of Management and Organization for the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross Business school. His energetic personality and practical business experience have made his classes some of the highest rated and hardest to get into at Ross, and he enjoys discussing the changing face of innovation with the next generation.
Taking into account DeGraff's extensive experience and mixing it with the creative streak and competitive edge he's known for, it is not hard to see why he is called 'the guru to the innovation gurus' of Fortune 500 Companies.
